Wärtsilä transfers Italy engine plant to MSC

In July 2022, Wärtsilä announced a plan to ramp down manufacturing at its facility in Trieste, Italy, and to centralize its four-stroke engine manufacturing in Europe in Vaasa, Finland. This plan is complete with production activities in Trieste discontinued.

Wärtsilä and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have now announced a transaction under which 255 employees and the Trieste production facility have been transferred to MSC, with the rest of the buildings and assets to be transferred later this Fall.

Wärtsilä estimates the full annual cost savings as well as the transformation costs to end in line with the plan announced in 2022, with the majority of the transformation costs taken as Items Affecting Comparability in 2022-2024 and the savings realized in 2024.

“With this transaction, we are now able to increase clarity to the transferring employees after a period of uncertainty,” said Håkan Agnevall, Wärtsilä president and CEO. “Wärtsilä in Italy will continue serving our customers through our expert teams in Trieste, Genoa, Naples and Taranto.”

Trieste will continue to be an important site for R&D, sales, project management, sourcing, service and training activities for the company.

“At the core of our strategy is to shape the decarbonization of marine and energy industries, requiring continuous focus on competitiveness and operational efficiency,” said Agnevall. “As planned, we now have a strong European industrial base in Vaasa and will continue to also support our customers with our expertise in Trieste as part of the global Wärtsilä team.”